Legal privilege in criminal cases

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Wounding or causing grievous bodily harm with intent

The offence of causing grievous bodily harm with intentWounding or causing grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent is triable only in the Crown Court...

Automatism

Definition of automatismAn act is done in a state of automatism if it is done by the body without control by the mind, (eg it is a spasm or a reflex),...

Voluntary manslaughter

Voluntary manslaughterVoluntary manslaughter consists of those killings which would be murder (because the accused has the relevant mental element for...

Written basis of plea and Newton hearings

When defendants are guilty, they have a choice to plead guilty or to put the prosecution to proof. When they plead guilty they may benefit from a...

Practice notes

Transferred malice

The principle of transferred maliceIf a person has a malicious intent towards X and, in carrying out that intent, injures Y, he is guilty of an...

9th Nov

In-house

Practice notes

Conspiracy to defraud

Offence of conspiracy to defraudConspiracy to defraud is a common law offence which was expressly preserved by section 5(2) of the Criminal Law Act...

9th Nov

In-house

Practice notes

Pre-sentence reports

Pre-sentence reportsA pre-sentence report (PSR) is a report usually prepared by the National Probation Service (NPS) with a view to assisting the...

9th Nov

Practice notes

Possession of a bladed article

The offence of possession of a bladed articleThe offence of having a bladed article in a public place can be tried in either the magistrates' court or...

9th Nov

Practice notes

Aggravated vehicle-taking

The offence of aggravated vehicle-takingA person is guilty of aggravated vehicle taking if:•they take a conveyance without the owner's or other lawful...

9th Nov

Practice notes

Possession with intent to supply

Possession with intent to supply a controlled drugIt is an offence for a person to have a controlled drug in his possession, whether lawfully or not,...

Produced in partnership with Red Lion Chambers 9th Nov

Practice notes

Privilege against self-incrimination

BackgroundThe concept of privilege against self-incrimination, which is commonly referred to as one distinct protection, actually arises from a number...

Produced in partnership with Aine Kervick and Will Hayes of Kingsley Napley LLP 9th Nov

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Practice notes

Failing to surrender, absconding and breach of bail conditions

Bench warrantsThe Bail Act 1976 (BA 1976) provides that if a defendant fails to appear at court to answer bail, the court may issue a warrant for...

9th Nov

Practice notes

Specific and basic intent

Specific intent—definitionOffences requiring specific intent are of two kinds:•where the mental element of the offence requires a purposive intent...

9th Nov

Practice notes

Forfeiture

The power of the court to order the forfeiture of property under the PCC(S)A 2000The Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 is the principal...

9th Nov

Practice notes

Fraud by false representation—sentence tracker

Sentences for fraud by false representationA person convicted of fraud by false representation in the Crown Court on indictment faces a maximum...

9th Nov

Practice notes

Appealing a conviction in the Crown Court

This Practice Note explains the right of defendants who have been convicted in criminal proceedings to appeal against their convictions in the...

Produced in partnership with Doughty Street Chambers 9th Nov

Practice notes

Disclosure orders under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002

What is a disclosure order?A disclosure order is, in general terms, an order authorising a request for information with which the recipient is obliged...

9th Nov

In-house

Practice notes

Affray

Affray is an offence created by the Public Order Act 1986 (POA 1986). It can be tried in either the magistrates’ court or the Crown Court. The...

9th Nov

Practice notes

Taking a conveyance without the owner's consent (TWOC)

Taking a conveyance without authority offenceTaking a conveyance without authority is committed when a person:•takes a conveyance without the owner's...

9th Nov

Practice notes

Misleading omissions under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008

The offence of misleading omissionsEngaging in a commercial practice that is a misleading omission is made an offence by the Consumer Protection from...

9th Nov

Most recent Legal privilege in criminal cases content

Practice notes

Legal professional privilege in civil proceedings

This Practice Note considers legal professional privilege (LPP), which is made up of legal advice privilege and litigation privilege.It considers the...

18th Nov

Practice notes

Privilege—solicitor and client confidence

This Practice Note looks at privilege and confidential information in the context of a client-solicitor relationship where that solicitor-client...

18th Nov

Practice notes

Legal privilege in EU competition cases

Legal privilege is the main means by which a company can resist disclosure of a confidential communication or document to a third party such as a...

9th Nov

Practice notes

Privilege—loss or waiver of privilege

This Practice Note looks at loss of privilege in civil litigation in the context of legal professional privilege (LPP) and in particular considers the...

6th Nov

In-house

Practice notes

Legal professional privilege in criminal proceedings

The aim of this Practice Note is to provide some guidance on the principles of legal professional privilege (LPP) as they apply in criminal...

Produced in partnership with Aine Kervick and Will Hayes of Kingsley Napley 19th Oct

Practice notes

Issues of privilege in cross-border criminal investigations

The rules relating to privilege, disclosure and waiver can vary widely from one jurisdiction to another.With multi-jurisdictional issues, it is...

Produced in partnership with Áine Kervick of Kingsley Napley LLP 16th Oct

Q&As

A company director is subject to disqualification proceedings as a result of selling assets of the company, which led to the insolvency of the company. The sale was effected following legal advice, which is privileged, and the liquidators have taken control of the company's privilege. Can the lawyer who gave the legal advice answer questions as regards the advice, or does a waiver of privilege/confirmation that privilege is not being asserted by the company need to be sought?

This Q&A considers whether in the course of the disqualification proceedings the lawyer is able to answer questions about that advice without...

Produced in partnership with XXIV Old Buildings 29th Sep

Q&As

Does legal advice privilege apply to the creation, management and operation of companies?

Legal professional privilege (LPP) does not extend to everything legal professionals have a duty to keep confidential. LPP protects only those...

28th Sep

Q&As

Could without prejudice documents in civil proceedings be seized and used by regulators in regulatory or criminal proceedings (using their powers of compulsion) or will such documents be protected by privilege?

Without prejudice material does not fall under the legal professional privilege (LPP) umbrella. It is its own form of privilege rooted in public...

Produced in partnership with Áine Kervick of Kingsley Napley 28th Sep

Q&As

What steps should be taken when dealing with individuals outside of the ‘client group’ to avoid loss of privilege?

General principlesIn English law, special protection is afforded to communications between lawyers (and in certain circumstances, third parties) and...

28th Sep

Q&As

I am a shareholder in company X. A director obtained legal advice on behalf of company X and I would like to see it. The director has claimed the document is privileged. Am I entitled to see it?

Privilege comes in a number of forms and is a means of seeking to prevent an opponent from being able to inspect various disclosable documents.For...

Produced in partnership with Howard Smith of Radcliffe Chambers 28th Sep

Q&As

Where a document has been shared between two parties under common interest legal privilege and those parties fall into dispute such that they no longer share a common interest and are bringing proceedings against each other, can that document, be relied on by either party in those subsequent proceedings?

Common interest privilege allows a client party (say, party A) voluntarily to disclose privileged material to a third party (party X). Common interest...

28th Sep

Q&As

A document is labelled ‘privileged’, ‘confidential’ and/or ‘privileged and confidential’. Does this mean it is privileged?

General principles—privilege and confidentialityOne of the more challenging issues a practitioner faces during litigation, and in particular during...

28th Sep

Q&As

I have accidentally sent the other side documents which are privileged. What should I do?

What is privilege?In English law, special protection is afforded to communications between lawyers (and, in certain circumstances, third parties) and...

28th Sep

Q&As

When will a reference to counsel’s opinion in inter partes correspondence amount to a waiver of legal professional privilege? Will the disclosing party be required to disclose the opinion in its entirety?

As a general rule where a party refers merely to the existence of a document rather than its contents, that would not be sufficient to constitute...

Produced in partnership with Ryan Turner of Lamb Chambers 28th Sep

Q&As

My firm has received a document from the other side which appears to be privileged. What should I do?

Although this is a question about privilege, privilege is a subset of confidentiality and this response addresses the wider issues. It assumes that...

Produced in partnership with Sarah Mumford 28th Sep

Q&As

If a client would like to voluntarily waive privilege in an investigation, what are the risks and how can they be mitigated?

Ownership of privilegeLegal professional privilege 'belongs' to the client and not to the legal adviser (Three Rivers District Council v Governor and...

Produced in partnership with Jonathan Edwards of Radcliffe Chambers and Daniel Gill of Clarke Willmott 28th Sep

Q&As

Can two proposed co-defendants, who have a common interest, disclose to each other their respective open correspondence with the claimant's solicitors? Does this have an impact on common interest privilege?

Joint or common interest privilege may arise where multiple parties have a right to assert privilege in the same documents. The circumstances of such...

28th Sep

Q&As

What are the privilege issues which arise in relation to a regulatory investigation?

Professional privilege—core principlesThe core aim of privilege is to protect the confidentiality of communications between clients and their lawyers....

28th Sep

Practice notes

Getting the Deal Through: Legal Privilege & Professional Secrecy 2020

Jurisdictions coveredThe following jurisdictions are covered in this report:Argentina; Brazil; France; Germany; India; Japan; Netherlands; Portugal;...

27th Sep